Let's open God's Word to Romans chapter one. We're going to read the first 17 verses, first half of the chapter. Romans one, verses one through 17. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, which he had promised afore by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning his son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. by whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations for his name, among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ. To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers, making request if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you. For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift to the end that ye may be established. That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith, both of you and me. Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, but was let hitherto, that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles. I am debtor both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the wise and to the unwise. So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith. As it is written, the just shall live by faith. We read this far in the scriptures. This morning we're going to finish up Lord's Day Six by considering the instruction given in the last question and answer, question and answer 19. Question 19 asks us, whence, or from what, knowest thou this? And the word this points back to everything Lord's Day Six has already explained to us, as well as the truth of Lord's Day Five. Whence knowest thou this? From the holy gospel, which God himself first revealed in paradise, and afterwards published by the patriarchs and prophets, and represented by the sacrifices and other ceremonies of the law, and lastly, has fulfilled it by his only begotten son. Our Lord Jesus Christ said in one of his most familiar discourses, My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal life, and none shall pluck them from my hand. And in another place, the shepherd who spoke those words calls to his sheep and says, All ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I shall give you rest." The voice of Christ. The voice that sheep hear and are irresistibly drawn to. A voice that has power to save. What is this voice? Where do we hear the voice of this Good Shepherd? The answer is the Gospel. Which is the subject of question and answer 19 of Lord's Day 6. A question and answer that is easy to pass over and yet a question and answer that is so full and rich because it explains to us the most precious thing that we have. A treasure given to us in earthen vessels, but a treasure that is beyond price, the preciousness of which is impossible to calculate. Your treasure, my treasure, the most precious possession, indeed a possession that possesses us, The most precious possession of the believer, of the Christian. The Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel is so precious because the Gospel reveals Christ. The Gospel is where the voice of Christ sounds forth. And the Gospel is the power by which God works salvation. And so that's what we're going to focus on for a little while this morning. The Gospel. And we're going to look at it from a big picture perspective. Really this is a subject the depths of which you can never get to the bottom of it. But we're going to take a big picture perspective. We're going to remain general, but there's benefit in that. Seeing what the Gospel is. So that we may cherish it. Believe it. and walk according to it. I changed up the theme and divisions a little bit after the bulletin was printed. So our theme is the gospel of God. The gospel of God. And the first point is its content. Secondly, its power. Thirdly, its revelation. The gospel of God, its content, its power, its revelation. Gospel, it's a very familiar word. It's very common in our Christian vocabulary. We speak about the gospel often. The gospel often stands for that which is absolutely true. So much so that in everyday speech, gospel truth means absolute truth or certain truth. We're familiar with the word gospel, but what does it really mean at heart? Gospel. It's a biblical word. We find it in Romans 1 verse 1 where the Apostle Paul speaks of the gospel of God unto which he has been separated or consecrated. The gospel of God. The word gospel that is so familiar to us is an English word that is the combination of the word good and spell. And in older English, that root of spell could mean much more than giving the letters that make up another word, but to speak, to announce, to bring forth an important message so that it is understood. When you spell out something for someone, you make it known to them, so that they can understand it. Good spell, good speech, the announcement, the proclamation of something good. And that English word is a perfect rendering of the Greek word, the original word that the Holy Spirit chose to use when the New Testament Scriptures were written. And the Greek word comes into our English as evangel, from which we get evangelism. And that Greek word is made of the e-v, ev, which in Greek means good, well, blessed. And angel, which in the Greek, is messenger, or message. A good message. And thus, God's word in times past was often brought to his people by means of an angel, a messenger of God. The evangel, that's the gospel. A good word, a good message from God. And so, in Luke 2 verse 10, it is so well said, when the angels say, good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. That's the gospel. It's good news. Truly good news. Absolutely good news. The best news that there is. And this gospel in Romans 1 verse 1 is called the gospel of God. And that's so very important. This is not merely good news that the media has judged to be good and so it spreads around the country. It's not good news that one people group has decided it's good because it's advantageous to them and so they want to spread it far and wide. But this good news, this good word, this message that is truly and absolutely good comes from God. It comes from the highest. It comes from the creator of heaven and earth. It comes from the judge of all with whom every human being will have to do the gospel of God. And that of God then especially means God is the author. It is His own word. He is the one who speaks it. He is the one who reveals it. He is the one who announces it. He is the one who causes this good word to be spread abroad and to come into the hearts of people like you and me. And thus we can be assured it is indeed good news. So many things in this world appear to be good news but really are not. This is truly good news. Because it is a word that comes from Him who is good in the absolute sense. The one who is the overflowing fountain of all good. The one whose being is the standard by which right and wrong is measured. The one whose perfection defines the deepest meaning of that word good. It is his news. It is his announcement. It is his word. A good word coming from the good God. Bringing good to you and me. It's the gospel of God, the good news from the good God. Which is good, not only because of its source, that's the ultimate reason, but now because it comes from the good God, it is a word, the content of which is so very good. And the effects of which, the fruit it brings forth, is so very good as well. good news. It's the good news that the good God Though He is so deeply aggrieved by sin, which is a direct offense to His Most High Majesty and all that He is as the Good and Holy One, has in eternity, because He is good, conceived of a plan of salvation, a plan which He put together with His infinite wisdom, and which He manifests in the sending of a Savior into the world to save sinners, And that salvation which the Savior is sent to perform is the greatest good for those who otherwise forfeited all good and had no good to look forward to. A salvation consisting of deliverance from all that is not good. Deliverance from the greatest evil. That which is at the root of all misery, sin. And all of the petals of that noxious poisonous flower that is sin, it's guilt, it's pollution, it's corruption, it's power, it's slavery, it's darkness, it's degradation, all of it. The good news that there is salvation, deliverance from that, and in place of that, Restoration of the greatest good. Entrance into the enjoyment of that greatest good. A greatest good that is freely bestowed in love by the good God. A good that He delights to give and work out in those who are rescued by this Savior. A good that cannot ever be lost. A good that will endure into eternity future. A good which like its own beautiful flower will continue to bloom and unfurl into greater enjoyment and riches and fullness. The Gospel announces that. That to those who sit in darkness, a light comes. To those who are laboring and heavy laden with sin, there is forgiveness and the righteousness of God. To take away their filthy garments and clothe them with something new. The garments of light. That to the dead and lost new life comes. Life that overcomes death and passes beyond death's grasp. Into good that is undying. and unkillable. The gospel is that good news. Which tells us what stands at the core of the infinite mind of God. The word which tells you what truly warms the heart of the eternal one. The Word which says to everyone who believes it, this is what God thinks of you. This is the plan He has for you. This is what He is going to do for you, in you, with you. Good News! That's the Gospel. Now to fully understand why this news and this word is so good, we have to delve a little bit into its contents. Into those unfathomable depths and incalculable riches of the gospel. The content. And as I said a moment ago, we are going to have a big picture perspective here and Romans 1 gives us that big picture perspective by highlighting some of the outstanding facets of the Gospel. The overarching parts of its message so that our vision may be centered upon The one who is the center and the core of this good news. Of this good word of God. This announcement. This message. This proclamation. The gospel of God. In Romans 1. Is called the gospel of his son. In verse 9. And the gospel of Christ. In verse 16. Now as an aside, there is an indirect proof of the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ. You can use those terms interchangeably. The gospel of God, of His Son, of Christ. But now that's not the main point right now. The gospel of Christ. And there the of phrase has a slightly different meaning. The gospel of God emphasizes that this good news comes from God. He is its author and its source, its revealer, its proclaimer. But this gospel that is of God is a gospel of Christ. And there of Christ means, here's the substance. Here's the content. Here is that which the gospel is comprised of. At bottom, it is a good word that presents, sets forth, proclaims, announces our Lord Jesus Christ. The Savior. who comes to do that salvation that we described a moment ago. He is its content. He is the center of it. He is the heart of the gospel. It is the good news of Jesus Christ. As the angel proclaimed in Luke 2 verse 10, Good tidings of great joy that shall be for all people. And then the angel goes on to give a synopsis of that content. Today in the city of David is born unto you a Savior who is Christ the Lord. The gospel of God is the gospel of Christ. And the of Christ shows us the goodness, the unspeakable goodness of this word, of this news, and what it means for all those who believe this word of the gospel. Romans 1 verses 3 and 4 are going to give us a few of the main features of that Gospel. A few of the high points of its content. Looking at verse 3. Concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord. So connect that back to verse 1. Verse 1, the Gospel of God. And then verse 2 explains that the history of that Gospel. But then verse 3 picks up with that phrase, the gospel of God, which is concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh. The essence of the gospel is this, Jesus Christ and who He is and what He has done, His person and His work. That's the essence of the Christian faith. That's the good news. God has sent into the world His Son. His Son. Not a son, but the Son. That is, the one who is His Son in an entirely unique sense. As the catechism says at the end of our question and answer, God's only begotten Son. And that language is used elsewhere in the scriptures. The Son of God who was with God and is God. As John 1.1 says. The Son of God who is eternally in the bosom of the Father. The Son of God who is the Word, who declares, that is, reveals the Father. The Word who has made flesh. The Son of God, who as to His person is God, and thus possesses The fullness of the divine being. The entirety of the attributes of God. The Son of God was made of the seed of David. The incarnation. There is one of those high points of the gospel message. that God the Son became incarnate of the Holy Spirit and was born of the Virgin Mary and was made man, became creature, became human, entered our life, entered our world, lived our life in our world, passed through and experienced in our human nature the entire range of human experience, all of our emotions, all of our experiences, all of our sufferings, everything, But not only did he just experience it all, but in our flesh, he came to deal with the root of all of our misery. came in our flesh to bear the sin that our flesh brought into God's world. In our human nature, as the previous Lord's days have taught us, in our human nature to bear our guilt, Submit Himself to our just punishment. To be made a curse for us. To be made sin for us. That we might never be accursed. And that we might be the righteousness of God. He came in our flesh. To do what Lord's Day 5 has already explained. As the only way of salvation. Satisfaction. For our sins. He came in our flesh. To be. The only one who could save us. As Lord's Day 6 has taught us. That perfect mediator. Who is in one person both a real righteous man. the second Adam, our federal and organic head, as well as very true God, He took on Himself our flesh to suffer and die in our flesh, to redeem our flesh, to merit the glorification of our flesh, so that in the flesh He might abide in glory and take us and our flesh that highest height of glory, to dwell with God. He took upon Himself our flesh from the center of the covenant line, from its apex, the royal house of David, to be our King, the lowly, humble King who conquers. Saves His people that He might reign over them and live with them Good, good news. And it all centers in Him. It's the gospel of Christ, His person, and His work. But then Romans 1 verse 4 goes on and draws our attention to another high point, another outstanding feature of the gospel that helps us get before our mind a synopsis of this message, this good message from God. The Christ, who was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, This Christ is declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead. What does all that mean? Jesus was declared to be the Son of God with power. when He rose again from the dead. And the idea of that is, when Jesus arose from the dead, that glorious resurrection, Sunday morning, it manifested in the most powerful way, His identity as the Son of God, and proved beyond a shadow of a doubt, the perfect accomplishment of the work He was given by the Father. The salvation of His people. He came in our flesh to be our sin bearer. Our guilt carrier. Our substitute. And He died in our place. He went to hell in our place. On the cross. He died. But death could not hold Him. Death could not keep His flesh in the place of corruption. Death could not have the last word. He arose and His resurrection manifests Him as the Son of God, the victor over sin and over death, as the perfect Savior. He arose with power and was declared the Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness. Romans 8 verse 11, we're told that Jesus arose by the power of the Spirit, the Spirit. His agency was involved in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. The spirit of holiness. The resurrection is according to the spirit of holiness. And that emphasizes that Jesus arose because He is the Holy One. He is the Righteous One. He perfectly made satisfaction for our sins. And therefore the penalty for sin could not continue to press Him down and keep Him in the grave. He arose. The Holy One. Which means and proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that your sins and mine and the sins of all of his elect people, the sins of all whom he died for, all whom he represented, all who come to believe on him, those sins are wiped away. The penalty for them is borne away. Your misery has been decisively torn up by the root. And even though you feel it yet in this world, and though you yet wrestle with the sinfulness, the indwelling sinfulness of your flesh, you wrestle with an enemy who has been decisively defeated. The serpent yet thrashes about, and he thrashes about violently, but his head has been crushed. and His ultimate and eternal demise is swiftly coming. Jesus arose and was manifest, the Son of God with power, the perfect Savior, the Redeemer. And so now you put verses three and four together and you see this is a synopsis of The person and work of Christ. But Paul refers to two important events from Jesus' ministry. His incarnation and His resurrection. from a certain point of view can be looked at as the beginning and the end. The Alpha and the Omega of His saving work in this world. He came into our flesh to bear our sin and His resurrection from the dead manifested Him as the one who perfectly bore it away. The incarnation was His entrance into His state of humiliation. The state in which He bore our guilt, humbled Himself, made atonement, and delivered us from the power and guilt of sin. And His resurrection is His entrance into His state of glorification. He arises as the victorious Christ, having finished that work, and now He arises to ascend on high and pour out the blessings, the glory, the life that He obtained. When He walked among us in a state of humiliation. The whole gospel is encapsulated in verses 3-4. That's the good news. This is good news that is not wishful thinking. This is good news that is not dreamt up by some mystic in the desert or in a temple. This good news is not just a philosophy extracted from a human mind. This good news is grounded upon fact. Historical fact. God's work in time and history. Real things that happened and were done. Real things that were seen, that were experienced by the people that lived at that time. Most of whom did not perceive or understand what was happening. But real things that really happened. God's concrete work in time and in history. With eternal significance. For all who believe in the Christ who is the center of this good news. The Christ who did everything that this good news announces and proclaims. That's the gospel. And now grasping something of the content of this Gospel, the core content of it, we see that this Good News is more than a tale that warms the heart. Or a piece of news that we might hear and say, I like that. That encourages me a little bit. This Good News of the Gospel is power. It's a power unlike any other power. And that's what Romans 1 teaches us in verse 16. Where the Apostle Paul says, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. The gospel in a certain sense was a laughing stock. in Paul's day. And this would have especially been the case in Rome. The center of world power. The heart of the most vast, glorious, and powerful empire that that part of the world had ever seen. This was Caesar's city where these Christians were living that Paul writes to. This was the city of the Caesar whose servant Pontius Pilate had executed some Jew in the backwater of the empire who seemed to be causing quite a stir. This was the city that would utterly laugh and scorn the idea that a man upon a cross is the Savior. That there is power in such a one? Hanging upon an instrument of torturous execution with nails driven through his hands and feet. Exposed to the elements and to the reviling of every passerby. Power? Something to be ridiculed, scorned in the eyes of the world. As Paul would say in the next book in our Bibles, Christ is foolishness to the wise of the world. His cross is an offense. Paul says, I'm not ashamed. I'm not embarrassed. I will come to the center of world power. By the grace of God, I'm going to come to Caesar's city. And I am going to proclaim this good news far and wide, without embarrassment, without shame. Because I know what it is. By the grace of God I see what it is. It is power unlike any power. It is the very power of God. A power that shares in common the omnipotence that we see displayed in God's creation of the world and in His providence, His upholding and governance of all of the works of His hands. But a power that from a certain point of view is even more marvelous because it's a gracious power. It's not merely sheer omnipotence, though it is almighty power. But it is a power of almighty love, of omnipotent grace, of unstoppable mercy. A power that not only creates, but redeems and renews and recreates and refashions and makes better than ever before. It's the power of God unto salvation. And Paul says, I'm not embarrassed about that. In fact, that which Leads to mockery and scorn the cross of Christ. That is what I will glory in above all. Because there in the cross of Jesus Christ we see the majesty, the grandeur, the gloriousness of this power of God. This saving power that clothes itself in weakness. Jesus Christ the omnipotent Savior veiled in our weak flesh. God is a God who makes His power perfect in weakness. Whose majesty is most beautifully displayed in humility. We see that in Christ. We see that in the Gospel. We see that in the entirety of Jesus' work revealed in that Gospel. While the world may make a mockery of the cross of Christ, In the cross we see, like nowhere else, why God is good. And why God is worthy of worship. And why even in this world, full of sin, and full of death, and full of pain, and full of sorrow, and full of my questions, and full of my wrestlings, and full of my struggles even with God's way. Amidst all of that, looking at the cross, I see why this God is good. And this God is worthy of worship. And why no matter what man says, or what the world says, or what my own sinful flesh says, I will cleave to this God. Because I see His heart in Christ. In the gospel of the cross. His power brought to bear in weakness. And His majesty set forth in humility. Grace. Mercy. That's the power of the Gospel. It's power which God brings to bear in the hearts of the people He loves. A power which He brings to bear in the lives of those who believe. power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes, the text says. Of course, it is the elect that believe. We understand that because we are saved by grace, which is, we are saved by grace through faith and that not of ourselves, it is a gift of God. God works that faith in the hearts of his people. But now the consistent presentation in the scriptures is all who believe this gospel is for you. This gospel sets forth what God thinks of you. What God has done for you. What He is working in you and where you are going. What His work for you is bringing you to. And that's liberating. It's a power to liberate us from the bondage of fear. It is a power to liberate us from works righteousness. It is a power to liberate us from every false and hopeless way of salvation. It's a power that doesn't work in us because we're such a good people. It's not a power that works in us because we've done the right things or fulfilled certain conditions or terms of service so that this power might become active in us. It's a power of God that He works in His own. A power unto salvation. The idea there is not that it's the Word of the Gospel itself that obtains salvation for us. We understand Christ, the One that the Gospel reveals. He has obtained salvation and all of the blessings of salvation for us. But now the gospel sets forth Christ and His work. The gospel reveals the blessings of salvation to us. And the gospel is the God designed tool now. By which He brings those blessings into our possession. Causes us to enjoy and experience them. It's the powerful tool God uses to work out. The salvation earned and obtained by Jesus Christ. It's the power by which that salvation earned and obtained by Jesus Christ becomes a reality in your heart and in your life and in your lived experience. It's the power, the saving power of God. To make this real, think about the outstanding blessing of salvation, which is the forgiveness of sins. What does it mean to truly have the forgiveness of sins? Oh yes, forgiveness of sins is an act of God. He pardons graciously all of the sins of His people on the basis of Christ's perfect satisfaction of His justice and fulfillment of the requirements of His law. And God declares that we are forgiven. So that our forgiveness doesn't depend upon anything in us or anything that we do. But now, How does that forgiveness come to be known by us? How do we come to realize we are forgiven? Come to enjoy and experience that reality of forgiveness and live out of it's joy. It's through the gospel. Which is the power of God unto salvation. That salvation blessing of forgiveness. Which God declares. He makes known in the gospel. And that gospel is that good word, that good message, that good announcement which comes to you and me. And which the Spirit presses into our hearts. And it becomes a reality in my lived experience. I'm forgiven by God. He tells me so. He tells me straight from His heart. He tells me in His Word, in the Gospel. That's how the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation. It's the power by which our salvation is worked out every day of our lives. It's the power by which the good work begun in us is performed all the way to the day of Christ. And faith, that gift of faith, is how we receive the gospel, comprehend the gospel, and apply it to ourselves. The Spirit brings us the Word, and the Spirit kindles in us that touchpoint, that receptor of the Word, faith. Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. As the gospel comes to us, faith perceives the Christ in that gospel and the significance of Christ, His person and His work for me. And faith believes, faith embraces this Christ and casts self upon this Christ. And simply receives the good news. And basks in the joy and delight of this good news. And it's in that way then that the gospel becomes the fuel of sanctification. We strive to live a holy life, and we want to, and we're grateful. Why? Because of the gospel. And what the gospel tells us, and what the gospel sets before us, and what the gospel presses upon our hearts. Christ. Who He is. What He's done. That's the fuel. For daily conversion. For a sanctified life. The gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation. In the introduction, we said the gospel is our most precious possession. Do you sense that preciousness afresh this morning, people of God? So many other things in this world that would vie for that center place of your affections. There are so many other things or other persons or other world views that would say, entrust your heart to me. I'll take care of you. There's something better than your Christian faith out there. But when you give a sustained look at the gospel, Your eyes penetrate to its heart. Good news. There is nothing like it. There is nothing else for our lives to be grounded in but the gospel. There is no other power, saving power, helping power, healing power, restoring power like the gospel. Oh yes, God gives us so many other means in this world that we use to our benefit. Means of medicine, means of other things, but nothing is a power like the gospel. that can truly transform us from the inside out. Nothing is like the power of the gospel that can sustain in the face of death and through death. Nothing like the gospel gives you firm footing in the midst of life's storms and adversities. Nothing but the gospel gives a true light of hope in the darkness of the valley like the gospel. There is nothing like the gospel. Nothing powerful. savingly powerful as the gospel. Cherish this treasure. Hold it fast. Believe in the Christ presented therein. And you cannot be moved. Hear his voice. He knows you. Follow Him. He gives you eternal life. None, no one, nothing can take you out of His hand. That's the gospel. It's content. It's power. It's a gospel that's revealed. That's really what this question and answer is focusing on. We're not going to take much time talking about it because we've really touched upon it already in the first and second point. The gospel is simply God's means by which he shows himself to us. Tells us His mind. Opens His heart. Reveals what's in His heart toward us. It's a revelation of God and His saving purposes in Jesus Christ. It's the gospel of God that sets forth Christ. And thus it is the gospel that only God can reveal. And it's a gospel that can only be pressed upon our hearts by the supernatural operation of grace. It's a gospel that will only be received and believed by the work of grace in our hearts. It's good news that no man can devise. Good news that no man will come to and embrace of himself. It's revealed by God. Given by God. Thanks be to God for that. Because that means then that it's power is not a human power. And the good effect of the gospel upon us is not something that sits in our hands. But it's the power of God unto our salvation. The Catechism makes the point that the gospel is not new news, you might say. But it's the good news that God has proclaimed to his people since the fall into sin. It's good news that has been progressively revealed throughout the Old Testament. From the mother promise, to the promise given to Abraham, The representation, the picture of it in the sacrificial system and worship of the Old Testament to the preaching of the prophets. And Romans 1 verse 2 especially highlights that. That the gospel of God was promised afore by His prophets and the Holy Scriptures. But now it is fulfilled. It is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Because He is the heart of it. In the Old Testament, the overarching form of the gospel was promise of good to come. But now that good has come in the person and work of Jesus Christ. And in the New Testament we relish in promise fulfilled. But yet we also anticipate a remaining promise of the fullness of the good to come. When Christ comes again. And so even as we Look at the Christ who came and the work he did for us in the gospel. Let our hearts be stirred to keep looking ahead to the Christ who will come again. Let us look ahead with hope. Let us not be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, as Paul was not ashamed. As we live in a world that still mocks and ridicules, pokes fun of, faith in a crucified Savior. As we live in a world which employs all of its intellectual powers to try to discredit this simple message of the Gospel. Let's hold it fast. We stand in the line of God's people who have clung to this message for ages past. And we are nearer than ever to its final and full fulfillment. Hold on to the gospel. Be grounded in the gospel. You will grow in grace. Look ahead and hope. The promise of the gospel in the Old Testament was infallibly fulfilled. The promise of the gospel in the New Testament shall likewise infallibly be fulfilled. This Jesus is coming. He's coming to take us to be with Him. Press on. Press on in the valley. Through all of the darkness, through all of the shadows, through all of the fears, through all of the pains, amidst all the reproach, press on. He's coming. He's coming. He will be here soon. Amen. Heavenly Father, bless the gospel to our hearts this morning. As we have thought about its content, Meditated upon its power. May that power be a reality in our lives. Work by the gospel more and more to transform us from glory unto glory. Work by the power of the gospel to uplift and uphold us amidst the deep dark valleys of this life. By the power of the gospel let us taste, a foretaste yet a rich foretaste of the glory soon to be revealed. We thank Thee for Jesus. We thank Thee for this good news. Amen.